Jürgen Klopp: “You Cannot Play Against Two Teams”

The Liverpool manager insists his team isn’t playing with one eye on Manchester City. They can only focus on themselves.

There’s a great, big, Manchester City-looking object in Liverpool’s way on the Reds’ road to first place in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola has his team firing on all cylinders. City don’t look like letting up anytime soon. If Liverpool are to have any chance of passing their Manchester neighbors, they really can’t leave any room for slip-ups. All the points, all the time.

However, Klopp isn’t worried about City. He can’t do anything about what City are doing. What are they doing? They are winning and scoring so many goals.

The manager’s philosophy and his message to his team is the same as always: Focus on yourself, one game at a time.

“How can you moan about that?,” said Klopp of Manchester City’s dominance in the league. “The only job we have to do is collect as many points as we can and then you have to see.

“We cannot do more. It is absolutely not a problem for us that we go in the dressing room and see the Manchester City result and they have won again.

“We expect them to win all the time apart from the games against us. We have only to try to play the best season we can play. In this difficult period you have to focus completely on your own performance.

“You cannot play against two teams – the one on the other side of the pitch and the one in your mind. That doesn’t work.

“Whatever they get at the end of the season they probably deserve. It will be the same for us.”

Liverpool can pass City if they win at Bournemouth. Guardiola’s side wait to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the late game. So, Liverpool’s time at the top could be brief but all they can do is keep winning.